The Jeffersonian Republic

Thomas Jefferson

“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

President Kennedy at a White House

dinner in 1962 honoring 49 Nobel

Laureates.

Thomas Jefferson• Wrote the Declaration of Independence• Ambassador to France • Owned (and read) over 10,000 books• Sold 6,500 of his own books to the government; in doing so, he created the Library of Congress• Was a leading economist in his day• Was a leading architect in his day: he designed his own home, the rotunda for the University of

Virginia and the Virginia State Capital Building• Was a leading agriculturalist and one of the first Americans to practice crop rotation• Was a leading paleontologist; there is even a species of Mammoth named after him. He even

had the bones of one delivered to him at the White House where he assembled them in the East Room whenever he had time.

• Was a leading astronomer• Was a leading writer (The Library of Congress has over 27,000 documents written by him on

file)• Was a leading inventor in his day• Founded the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Virginia

Election of 1800

• In the Presidential Election of 1800, the Federalists had a host of political opponents stemming from the Alien & Sedition Acts

Election of 1800

• There was genuine debate about the future of the nation and whether the Federalist or Democratic-Republican party would be best equipped to lead the nation.

Election of 1800• The Federalists were

attacked politically by not declaring war on France after the XYZ Affair feared losing the election.

Election of 1800

• So the Federalists launched many personal attacks on Jefferson.

• His affair with his slave Sally Hemmings

• Accusations of French loyalty

• Accusations that he was an atheist

Election of 1800

• The election was rough…

Election of 1800

• Jefferson got 73 votes in the Electoral College, John Adams got 65, but…

Election of 1800• Aaron Burr, an anti-

Federalist and former Senator from New York also received 73 votes for President. That meant the election would be decided in the House of Representatives.

Election of 1800• Both John Adams and Alexander Hamilton persuaded

enough Federalist members of the House of Representatives to vote for Jefferson and elect him as the 3rd President.

Election of 1800

• Hamilton and Jefferson certainly had their differences and fair share of arguments, but Hamilton and Burr had a long history together going back to their days in New York and they simply hated each other.

Election of 1800

• The House of Representatives voted 35 times, before Adams and Hamilton could finally convince enough members that they had to vote for Jefferson.

Election of 1800• The crisis in America was real and many

believed at the time that Civil War over the election was likely with some state leaders threatening to call out state militias to enforce the vote of their state in the election.

• This “Bloodless Revolution” as it became known stood in stark contrast to the very bloody French Revolution kicked off in large part due to the collapse in their economy as a result of the massive amount of aid they sent us during our Revolution.

President Jefferson

• With a new President in office from a different political party, America for the first time began to undergo a political shift:– Jefferson shrunk the size of government

– He dismissed many Federalist employees

– He pardoned anyone jailed under the Alien & Sedition Acts

– He signed a new law that cut the amount of time an immigrant needed to be in America to become a citizen from fourteen to five

– He reduced the national debt and balanced the budget

– He reduced the size of the military

President Jefferson

• Jefferson also, despite his objections, left Alexander Hamilton’s National Bank in place.

The Midnight Appointments

• On the night before he left office, President Adams stayed up appointing Federalist Judges to Federal courts across the country.

Marbury v. Madison

• William Marbury was appointed by President Adams to serve as Justice of the Peace for Washington D.C., however his appointment was lost in the shuffle as Adams left office and Jefferson took office.

Marbury v. Madison

• Marbury sued for his job.

• Eventually, the case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Marbury v. Madison

• Justice Marshall dismissed the case, and stated that part of the Act that allowed Adams to appoint the judges was unconstitutional.

Marbury v. Madison

• This put the Supreme Court in a position to determine the constitutionality of laws, Acts of Congress and bills signed by the President.

Barbary Coast

• In an effort to reduce the national debt, Jefferson had reduced the size of the U.S. military.

Barbary Coast

• In an effort to reduce the national debt, Jefferson had reduced the size of the U.S. military.

• He left 3,500 men in He left 3,500 men in the U.S. Armythe U.S. Army

The Louisiana Purchase

• In 1800, the Emperor of France: Napoleon Bonaparte secretly convinced the King of Spain to cede his territory in Louisiana to France.

The Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase

• France, under Napoleon was (as usual) fighting its long time rival the British.

• Napoleon also had an eye on his Caribbean colonies and a real interest in protecting New Orleans.

The Louisiana Purchase

• A slave revolt had taken place on the island of St. Domingue in 1793 and Napoleon wanted the island back to control his interests in the Caribbean and launch any attack against America in New Orleans was threatened.

4,500 miles4,500 miles

The Louisiana Purchase

• Napoleon sent 20,000 French troops to recapture the island.

• These troops would also offer a huge threat to America because Jefferson had shrunk the size of our military to cut costs & balance the budget.

U.S. vs. French Army

The Louisiana Purchase

• But almost all of the 20,000 troops Napoleon sent to the Caribbean died of yellow fever.

The Louisiana Purchase

• With the loss of the soldiers and island, Napoleon decided he wanted to focus his attention on conquering Europe.

The Louisiana Purchase

• He decided he was in the market to sell some property!

• Jefferson offered him $10,000,000 to buy the city of New Orleans.

The Louisiana Purchase

• Napoleon offered all of Louisiana for $15,000,000!

The Louisiana Purchase

• This put Jefferson in a difficult position. He believed in a small central government with the real power lying in the states.

The Louisiana Purchase

• So it was difficult to justify spending so much money that he believed belonged to the states, but the deal was just too good to pass up!

The Louisiana Purchase

• Since Napoleon wanted war with the English more than he wanted his colonies in the Caribbean and America…

The deal got made!The deal got made!

The Louisiana Purchase

• Jefferson had to borrow much of the $15 million so he did what everyone else does who needs money they don’t have…

The Louisiana Purchase

• But the only bank that had the $15,000,000 he needed to give the French was in…

• Jefferson got his $15 million bucks!

• He gave the money to Napoleon…

• Who then gave it right back to the English!

• But Thomas Jefferson had secured for America…